April 4 – Easter Basket

Easter Eats

Every year, I put together an Easter candy hunt for Mrs. Sip. Yeah, I know, I’m the greatest husband in the world! This surprise holds two benefits: I score major points with the missus and I have a plethora of Easter treats to enjoy for myself. It’s like guilt free and all! Here are some of my favourite Easter goodies!

#5: Chocolate Eggs

Whether it be Snickers, Oh Henry, Butterfinger, Crunch, or some other option, these are some of the most satisfying Easter treats and you can’t stop at just demolishing one. Sure, it’s basically just the chocolate bar in a flat, egg shape (which you pay more for than a full-size treat), but there’s something to be said for small sizes and being able to eat more of a variety of things, than just one option. This is why Halloween is so awesome, too!

Easter-Chocolate

#4: Reese’s Products

While any Easter entry from Reese’s is delicious, the topper is the company’s eggs, which are incredibly similar to their traditional peanut butter cups. I’m also a fan of their mini-cups (wrapped of course in pastel colours) and smaller foil-wrapped eggs. They even have peanut butter stuffed chocolate bunnies, which should have the entire population of chocolate bunnies cowering in fear. I smell a massive chocolate rabbit cull on the horizon…

#3: Jelly Beans

Every once in a while, I get a massive craving for jelly beans, which I only sometimes act on. While most around the world have to settle for other jelly bean offerings (Jelly Belly, Starburst, Jolly Rancher, etc.), us folks in this part of the world (that would be British Columbia) can enjoy Purdy’s jelly beans, which are the softest, tastiest confections ever devised. I say “settle” for the other companies, but they all have their own positive attributes. Eat on, my little sippers!

jelly bean diet

#2: Cadbury Crème Eggs

For some reason, Mrs. Sip isn’t down with Crème Egg candies, but that doesn’t stop the Sip Advisor from picking up a pack or two for himself! There’s just something fun about cracking one of these open and dealing with the creamy goo in whatever way you choose fit. Capitalizing on the popularity of Cadbury Crème Eggs, other companies have released similar products, with mixed results. Some are decent to good, but nothing compares to the original.

#1: Mini Eggs

While some knockoffs have popped up on the market, nothing beats the true version of Mini Eggs from Cadbury Chocolates. Ma and Pa Sip seem to always have a bowl around at their place and it is incredibly difficult to behave yourself and stay away from said bowl. I try to only have one of each colour every time I visit the bowl, but there are certainly times when I can’t pry myself away from the treats, especially after a couple Easter drinks!

Super Saturday Shot Day: Easter Basket

Easter Basket Shot

  • Rim glass with Coconut Shavings
  • 0.75 oz Cherry Liqueur
  • 0.25 oz Triple Sec
  • Splash of Milk
  • Dash of Grenadine

I have to include a couple items in my honourable mentions that Mrs. Sip enjoys, while the Sip Advisor doesn’t at the same level. This would include Whopper’s Robin Eggs and Peeps. Malt balls and marshmallows don’t totally work this guy, but I appreciate how happy they make Mrs. Sip!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3 Sips out of 5):
You can either add green food colouring or sprinkles to the Coconut Shavings to get that Easter basket grass effect. I wish I had used some other Easter candies for my garnishing, but I didn’t have any on hand. You know, the whole healthy lifestyle thing. The shot was highlighted by the sour taste of the Cherry Liqueur, but I wasn’t overly thrilled with the entire recipe as a whole.

October 24 – Nerds

Terrible Treats

There’s not a lot of candy out there that isn’t good, but some items draw some serious ire for the Sip Advisor. Here’s what tops the unwanted list:

Black Jelly Beans/Jube Jubes

I’ve grown to accept both of these evil devices, as my tastes have expanded, but there’s a reason why in a bowl of jelly beans or jube jubes, the black ones are the last to be finished, often with a clump of them remaining and some brave soul being dared to rid them from the world. And no, I’m not a racist, except towards those damn purple people, but that’s another story for another day.

Black Jelly Beans

Jelly Bellies

You just never know what you’re going to get with the mixed jelly bean flavours and that mystery can really stress a fella out. BeanBoozled packs even capitalize on this confusion with identically coloured candies on opposite ends of the taste spectrum. Some doppelgangers include Coconut or Baby Wipes, Tutti-Fruitti or Stinky Sock, Caramel Corn or Moldy Cheese, and Juicy Pear or Booger. I do have to give the company credit for their Cocktail Classics line, featuring Mojito, Bellini, Margarita, Pina Colada, Cosmo, and Daiquiri flavours!

Jawbreakers

The favourite candy of dentists everywhere! I’m always worried when eating a jawbreaker that I’m going to wreck my teeth. I’m just not patient enough to let the hard candy become soft, which is probably why I enjoy chewy Gobstoppers for their light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel ability. I remember having one of those massive giant jawbreakers when I was really young and having to smash it on the floor to make a piece small enough to fit in my mouth… then it was basically a choking hazard. Ah, the wonders of childhood!

Peeps

I’ve never really been a huge fan of marshmallow based candies and cookies. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d rather have a cream filling! Are you done giggling? How about now? Seriously, I’m just not that into marshmallows. Perhaps roasting them over the fire and exacting revenge on them via flames is the closest I can say I come to enjoying marshmallows. I do make concessions for marshmallows as part of baking, such as Rice Krispy Squares or Ma Sip’s famous delicacies.

Peep Show Candy

Push Pops

The thing I hated about these candies is that your spit would end up all over your finger and hand as it came through the device holding it. I thought we were supposed to teach kids not to suck on their fingers and grow the eff up! There seems to be some sort of disconnect between the two ideas there. Similarly horrible were Ring Pops, although I do look fabulous in designer candy jewelry!

Milk Duds

Junior Caramels are much better, but when Mrs. Sip can’t locate any for her movie popcorn, she’ll grab Milk Duds, which can be very hard to chew and you normally end up choking on the piece as you try to swallow. We’ve also taken a shine recently to the Caramilk or Rolo bites that were released not that long ago. Basically, as long as the chocolate and caramel is soft, we’re pretty happy. Once Mrs. Sip dumps them into her popcorn, though, I no longer partake.

Drink #297: Nerds

Nerds Drink Recipe

  • 1 oz Melon Liqueur
  • 1 oz Blue Curacao
  • Top with Lemonade
  • Garnish with Nerds

Which candies do you deplore? We should have a candy burning festival and as all the awful items burn in hell, we should rejoice in the purity of our favourite treats and stuff ourselves full of glorious vices!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (2.5 Sips out of 5):
I certainly wouldn`t associate Nerds or this cocktail with the ‘Terrible Treats’ moniker. I tried to put the Nerds on the rim of the glass, but they were too heavy to stay in place. To compensate, I just poured them on top of the cocktail and I think that worked well enough.  The drink didn’t blow my mind and left me a little disappointed. Not to mention that I think all these candy drinks are slowly giving me diabetes!